James Boone tosses a redfish carcass to waiting pelicans Friday as he and his son, David, clean their catch Friday on the Texas City Dike. The city has made more than $412,000 each year — about $1.4 million total — since it started to charge a $5 access fee to the dike during the summer weekends and select holidays.

A crew uses an excavator to clear silt buildup in front of the boat ramp near the entrance to the closed Texas City Dike on Dec. 15, 2009. After being heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008, the Texas City Dike reopened in September 2012 with a $5 fee assessed to out-of-town visitors on summer weekends and some holidays. Since the fee was implemented, the city has taken in $1,441,536 and spent $841,571 on maintenance and improvements at the dike.

Texas City Dike access fee has brought in more than $1.4M

James Boone tosses a redfish carcass to waiting pelicans Friday as he and his son, David, clean their catch Friday on the Texas City Dike. The city has made more than $412,000 each year — about $1.4 million total — since it started to charge a $5 access fee to the dike during the summer weekends and select holidays.

JENNIFER REYNOLDS/The Daily News

Ernest Haynes of Temple keeps an eye on his two fishing poles Friday on the Texas City Dike. Haynes had spent the morning fishing with friends.

JENNIFER REYNOLDS/The Daily News

A school of fish surface near a pier on the Texas City Dike on Friday.

JENNIFER REYNOLDS/The Daily News

A crew uses an excavator to clear silt buildup in front of the boat ramp near the entrance to the closed Texas City Dike on Dec. 15, 2009. After being heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008, the Texas City Dike reopened in September 2012 with a $5 fee assessed to out-of-town visitors on summer weekends and some holidays. Since the fee was implemented, the city has taken in $1,441,536 and spent $841,571 on maintenance and improvements at the dike.

TEXAS CITY — The city has made more than $412,000 each year in revenue — about $1.4 million total — since the city began charging a fee to get on the Texas City Dike during summer weekends. That money, city officials said, then gets used to clean up the dike and add amenities, which have totaled about $841,000.

Revenue from dike fees is already at $161,546 for the 2013-14 fiscal year, with about $41,000 coming from the Memorial Day weekend alone, said Texas City Mayor Matt Doyle.

The money comes from the $5 fee the city charges for a day pass on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from March to October and on certain holidays. Because cleanup costs are increasing, the fee will be raised to $10 on certain holidays, Doyle said.

The fee was implemented in Sept. 2010. Revenue in the first fiscal year was $440,141, according to data provided by the city. In the 2011-12 fiscal year, revenue was $412,134, and in 2012-13, revenue was $427,715.

All that money is used to clean up and improve the almost 5-mile long dike, Doyle said.

“We spend a tremendous amount of money on litter control and cleanup,” he said.

But what is left over is put toward amenities on the popular fishing dike. The city has put lights on the fishing areas and boat ramps, construction of a new fishing pier was finished late last year, and a new cleaning station at the end of the dike is being installed, among other things, Doyle said.

The city spent $89,193 on the dike in it’s first season of charging the fee with expenses of $284,377, $335,949 and $132,052, respectively, in the following years for a total of $841,571.

There is no running water or pluming on the dike, so the city can’t put in permanent restrooms, but there are portable toilets, Doyle said. And after reading about complaint in The Daily News about the toilets, Doyle said the city would be stepping up cleaning and maintenance of the toilets.

Charging a fee to use the dike had always been in the city’s plans, Doyle said.

It wasn’t until after improvements were done following Hurricane Ike that the city started getting users of the dike to pay for its maintenance instead of tax payers, he said.

“We needed to get the money we were spending of the tax payers dollars off the tax payers back and on to the users’ back,” he said.

Texas City residents can get a sticker from the city and for free admission to the dike, Doyle said.

The way the city is handling the fee and the cleanup is working well and is fair, he said.

“Citizens of Texas City get to use it for free because they are tax payers here, and the people from out of town who are using the city’s facilities are the revenue stream,” Doyle said. “And that is the fair way to do it.”

(6) comments

I agree. $10.00 for a day pass is too much to use a port a potty. Double the cost? Put in running water and sewer. Where are the stores and bait camps at? If the City wants to double the charge, they should offer more amenities out there.

User fees for facilities benefitting a small portion of the population relative to the whole beat all heck out of local taxpayers footing the bill for people from near and far to spend a free day fishing, and, too often, trashing.Charge what it costs to keep it clean, with a little left over for a rainy day...Charging extra for holidays that really bring out the trashy is just smart business.

I used to go to the dike as a youngster and young adult. Our group of friends never trashed out the place however other visitors usually shunned us I think mostly due to our long hair. We would fish the deep side and wait for a ship to speed through on the channel side and catch some righteous waves from their wake. I don't guess I've been out there but a couple of times in the last 40 years. I probably will never go as long as they charge me.

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